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Struggling to win: fight not over for Indian boxers
Published on Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 00:53 in Sports section
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Boxing , Bhiwani
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Bhiwani/ New Delhi: Indian boxing heroes Akhil, Vijendra and Jitendra Kumar were made at the BBC, the Bhiwani Boxing Club, where many young boxers can’t afford gloves, a tin shed covers the arena and the potholed-roads are full of mud water.
Jagdish Singh, a coach at BBC, remembers how he encouraged Akhil, Vijendra and Jitendra. “I used to pin up news reports and photos of their victories on the walls of the club so that they feel good and do better,” says Jagdish. The success stories of Akhil and Vijender encourage young boys to carry on. Boxing in Bhiwani is not just a sport, but it’s a way of life and livelihood.
“You will find children punching the air and hopping in each and every lane of Bhiwani. Around 2,000 children come to the club with the hope that they too would one day compete in the Olympics,” says boxer Dharamveer Sharma.
That dream isn’t easy to achieve, says Olympic bronze winner Vijender's father. “I worked harder and cut expenses at home to make sure that Vijender’s needs were fulfilled,” says Mahipal Singh.
Vijender and Akhil’s performance at the Olympics has inspired more young boys here to enter the ring. Most of them come from poor families. Seven to eight boys share one room and have little money. The only thing they have is their faith in themselves and God.
“My family lives on my father’s Navy pension. He is dead and my mother is alone at home. I have come to Bhiwani to learn boxing and then earn a medal like Vijender,” says young boxer Tilak Raj.
Life is a wrestle
Akhil, Vijendra and Jitendra struggled in Bhiwani and wrestler Sushil Kumar in Delhi. Sushil has made it big by winning the bronze medal at the Olympics but for wrestlers like him life is a long struggle in akharas. Most begin training in their early teens and it takes more than six years' hard work to reach the state or national level.
“Young wrestlers and coaches work hard but it’s who parents make sacrifices. Parents tighten their expenses and save for wrestlers,” says Yashvir Singh, a coach at Satpal Akhara.
Athletes like Tilak are worried that the honeymoon period after India’s Olympic glory will soon be over and boxing and wrestling will be forgotten again.
“I am sure that people will forget us and be hooked to cricket again. I am sure that 90 per cent people in the country wouldn’t know how many boxers went to the Olympics but they would know all about the Indian cricket team. India must encourage all sports, not just cricket or boxing,” says Bhiwani boxer Sunil Kumar.
Coach Jagdish Singh is optimistic. He is confident that one day boxing will become a career in itself and not just a passport to a government job. For now, he is happy training young men and he is satisfied that he has at least changed the image of Indian boxing if not the system.
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